Am I worrying about nothing??? Please help!!

[Bluebella]

Hi all,

I'm 34 weeks pregnant, and for the last week I have been going crazy with worry. I had a sandwich from a sandwich shop 2 weeks ago, I didn't buy it, some one else got it for me. Anyway, it was just white bread, with cheddar cheese slices in.

I was eating it, then after a few bites, I noticed a small bit of blood where I had bit on the top of the bread. I thought nothing of this, because at the moment my gums are bleeding when I brush my teeth, so I just thought it was my blood. It wasn't till afterwards that I am going insane with worry incase it wasn't my blood - now I am really really worried I have caught HIV from this.

Every one I have talked to, including midwife, says there is nothing to worry about, as it must have been my blood. My friends and family think I am mad, and worrying about nothing.

I've been told, that HIV doesn't survive outside the body for long anyway, and I didn't eat the sandwich for probably at least half an hour after it was made.

If it were some one else's blood, what are the chances it was HIV infected anyway?

I've also been told that if you ingest blood you can't get it that way anyway, has to be through bodily fluid contact.

There was definately no blood on the top of the sandwich before I went to eat it, but I keep thinking - what if there was blood inside the sandwich???

It's really getting me down, I've been anxious and worried all throughout the pregnancy, and my health professionals think this is just another thing that I am fixating on.

Please, would you be worried about this? Would you just forget about it?

The only thing that botheres me, about it being my blood, is that it hasn't happened while eating food since!!!! My teeth do continue to bleed when I brush my teeth though...

What are your thoughts?

xxx BlueBella xxx

P.S I even went back into the sandwich shop and they said no one had a cut that day, but they don't where gloves...but they do pick up the cheese / fillings with tongs.

Chill. Agree with tmmj. You are going into overdrive.

Oh bless you - I was just like this in my first pregnancy. I spent 3 hours waiting for an emergency appointment in the GP's waiting room because I had eaten a mushroom pate sandwich and convinced myself I had listeria (had spent a sleepless night weeping about it).

I'm with mmj - it was blood from your gums...please try and forget about it, you are worrying yourself sick over nothing - I don't imagine anyone, ever, in the history of the world has contracted HIV like this.

Try and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy

Hi Bluebella,
im not in any way a medical expert but i do think you are worrying too much about this. Hiv doesnt live outside the body for long, and the chance that the person who made you sandwich has hiv is slim.
Are you sure it was blood, could it have been something else (spot of beetroot ect?)
I was also really anxious throughout my pregnancy with my dd, convinced that everything that could go wrong would,is this your first child? i do think that all first time mums get like this but some of us are worse than others!

It's normal to worry a lot especially in a first time pregnancy, but your fears are unfounded here I'm sure.

If you feel as worried about situations after the baby is born make sure you speak to your GP. There are drugs such as Citalopram which can help enormously.

you need to find some way to deal with this sort of anxiety.. it is not good to be living at this state of high alert...

relaxation as TMMJ has suggested is good....

there was no blood inside the sandwich

you know rationally that your gums are bleeding and teh blood on it was yours.

i would speak to your MW about the anxiety and ask for some help with dealing with it, as this is not a 'normal' level of anxiety

i had the worst bleeding gums when pregnant wtih DS, i was bleeding so much, i though i;d have to go to a&E after spending 45 minutes bleeding into the sink, i had a swollen area on my gum that just bled and bled.. also mixed with saliva, it looked like a lot of blood.. it disappeared right after pregnancy though !

do you have a history of anxiety/depression?

Please try and relax. I too was quite irrational about things like this in late Pregnancy. I burst into tears at the drop of a hat!

The blood was yours. If it was someone elses it would not have been red blood, it would have dried into a dark brown colour. The fact that you recognised it as blood means it was fresh and from you.

Try to enjoy these last few weeks, you will need to be rested for when LO arrives

Hi every one,

Thank you for your responses, it has helped to reassure me.

In fact, today I had a baguette, and my teeth started bleed and left some blood on the baguette. This has reassured me as well, but what doesn't reassure me is that I can understand why they bled today because the baguette was quite hard, but the sandwich two weeks ago wasn't, it was just soft white bread.

So, I still have worry about this, because why would they bleed on soft bread?

Argghhh, I am really really trying to forget about it, but it's still in my mind, even though the same thing happened today on a baguette.

But thank you for all your reassurance every one xxx Blue xxx

I really wouldn't worry too much about this - my gums are bleeding spontaneously - sometimes i'll just feel them start to bleed and there's a bit of blood on my finger when i check! so anything or nothing can set it off.